Transport for London’s Kingsland Road arches brought back to Life with Fletcher Priest conversion

TfL has won planning permission for Kingsland Road arches, the second TfL conversion scheme that has been designed by Fletcher Priest. Fletcher Priest’s urban design studies for TfL cover four strategic areas in diverse locations across London. The first in this series – converting 31 disused arches at Wood Lane – is already entering the first phase of development.

The Kingsland Road site is a series of derelict spaces running north from what was previously Shoreditch Station, which closed in 1940, and includes the old ticket offices from 1928.Fletcher Priest’s design involves refurbishing these spaces to a state that reflects their Kingsland Road Conservation Area status.The emphasis is on revealing the arches, bringing them back to the streetscape, by removing the low frontages and other structures that have been obscuring them and enclosing the entire arch haunch and crown in a glazed ‘box’.

Stone dado work, currently located under the windows of the frontage, will be retained to reference the past and will be relocated within the entrance recesses to the new buildings and distinctive signage will unify the frontage.

By removing the back wall of the constrained existing building, Fletcher Priest has created a new connection through to previously inaccessible arches, significantly increasing the usable space with new doorways onto Kingsland Road re-activating a previously long run of closed street frontage.

Graeme Craig, TfL Commercial Development Director, said:

“Transforming the arches at Kingsland Road will bring a new lease of life to these vacant units, while maintaining the character of the area. They will provide a new location for business to thrive and are one of the many ways that we are raising vital revenue to reinvest in the transport network.”

Fletcher Priest won the project through competitive tender as part of the GLA/TfL ADUP Framework.